“That sounds brilliant. As long as I can spend today with you. And the weekend, I hope.”
“You bet.”
And with that, they kissed again.
34
Dídac was true to his word—the restaurant where they ate was amazing, and unlike anything Kim had experienced before. But before that, they cleared the breakfast things from the terrace, and took them into the kitchen, then went into Dídac’s room and made love once again on the big wide old bed that had once been his grandfather’s. After that they showered together, under the weak drizzle of water that came out of the shower nozzle.
“It’s on the family’s to-do list of fixer-upper chores,” Dídac informed him as he toweled Kim down. “But when we come up here, we never seem to get much done except go wild mushroom foraging, cooking, eating, and sitting in front of the fire.”
“It sounds like you have your priorities about right,” Kim answered, taking the towel and wrapping Dídac inside it, pulling him towards him.
As their bodies came together, fresh and warm from the shower’s heat, their dicks rose together against each other again. Their tongues twined together, exploring each other’s mouths. Kim took hold ofDídac’s firm erection, grasping it in his hand and pulling him slowly and sensually even as his own hard cock ground into Dídac’s stomach. Then he bent down and took Dídac’s cock in his mouth.
“Mare de Déu!” Dídac gasped, as Kim’s hot mouth worked slowly up and down his shaft, the tip of his tongue tickling and caressing the head. He sank his fingers into Kim’s thick hair, still damp from the shower. Kim sucked Dídac in a slow, regular rhythm, unhurried as if they had all the time in the world. Please let us, he thought. Let us have this time together for now. Don’t take this man away yet. Kim didn’t seem to be going anywhere, content as he was to be pleasuring Dídac on his knees here in the bathroom. When Dídac finally came, the third time in less than twenty-four hours, Kim kept him in his mouth. And when he got to his feet and kissed him again, Dídac tasted his own juice in Kim’s mouth, on his tongue. It felt like a promise or commitment in some way.
“Wow, thanks!” Dídac breathed. “That was amazing!”
“No, thank you, Dídac, for letting me in, letting me get to know you. I want us to keep what we’ve got here. I know, when we go up that hill and get mobile coverage, all hell’s probably going to break loose. But let’s hold on to this, what we have.”
Dídac nodded. “Yeah, sure. That’s what I want too.”
Before walking up the hill, they walked down and grabbed Kim’s suitcase, which had thankfully remained watertight throughout the storm. So Kim was able to change into fresh clothes, though he missed wearing Dídac’s, permeated as they were with the other’s smell. His phone wasnot so lucky. It was lying in the wet grass, close to the suitcase. They brought it up to the house, took the SIM card out and left it drying beside the tamped-down embers in the fireplace.
Then the three of them walked up the road toward the old forge, Kim and Dídac hand in hand, while Dragon rode on Dídac’s shoulders. The forge was an ancient two-roomed stone building, one side of which was open to the road, but barred by two wide iron gates, padlocked shut. At the back of the structure sat the wide brick bed of the forge itself, with a huge chimney overhead, and rotting leather bellows to one side. Rusting iron tools of all descriptions filled the space.
“I used to come up here as a kid and watch Grandpa work,” Dídac said. “I wish we could preserve it in some way. It’s all slowly falling apart.” But at that moment, his mobile started pinging with messages. “Laia,” he muttered.
“Call her,” Kim said. “After that I’ll put my SIM in yours and call her too, apologize, and make sure they’ve got stuff to go on with in rehearsal.”
“And Santi?”
“Let’s leave him till the afternoon.”
They were silent while Dídac phoned, the unspoken weight of Dídac’s decision to be made lying between them. When Laia answered, Dídac wandered a few steps away, while Kim sat on a log, watching Dragon explore the forge, having managed to slip in under the barred gate. Then they swapped SIMs and Kim phoned Laia, apologizing for not being at rehearsal, and asking about how it was progressing. He made his excuses for having left the company in the lurch. Although Kim was sure that Dídac had told her that Kim was with him, Laia was nothing but professional with Kim, even though the glaring elephant in the room was Kim’s clear lack of professionalism at abandoning theproduction without a second thought. She told him that Felipa and Domènec had stepped into the breach, organizing the younger actors to piece together a run-through and working on any scenes they felt were weak.
“There’s one actor you’ll need to talk to, however,” she said. There was a pause.
“Who?” he asked, though he suspected he already had a good idea.
“Isard. He’s… He doesn’t seem to be… quite… adapting to the show. He knows… everyone knows that he’s a replacement, not your first choice. Dani and Kiko are also annoyed that one of them wasn’t chosen to replace Dídac, since they know the part so well. I just thought you should know.”
“Thanks, Laia, you’re doing brilliantly, and I’m sorry to have put you all in this position, especially you. You don’t deserve it. Believe me, the production is still very much a top priority of mine, but I had—”
“Just notthetop priority, Sir.”
Kim took that hit, knowing he deserved it.”
“You’re right, notthetop priority. For the first time in… years. I didn’t take your advice, Laia, and I’m not sorry about that. But I promise you, I will look after Dí—”
“Let’s keep our relationship professional, shall we, Sir? Keep personal things separate.”
“Yes, you’re right. Can I ask a favor though, before you go? Can you tell Santi and Jordi I’ll ring them this afternoon. I have some changes to the production I want to discuss with them, which I need to work out first. And I’ll see you on Monday, the usual time.”
After ringing off, the huge guilt he felt for having bailed from the production like that washed over him. He was a professional, and had never missed a performance, or even a rehearsal in his whole life—untiltoday. If it meant winning Dídac back, though, he would do it again in an instant. He also felt massive respect for Laia, who had acted like a consummate professional throughout this whole crisis (unlike himself), and continued to do so, even though Dídac was her closest friend and she wished to protect him at all costs. He turned to Dídac:
“So, where’s this restaurant you wanted to show me? I’m starting to get hungry.”
